Biography

Born in 1922, Babaria (Madhya Pradesh), Raza graduated from Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai in 1943 and became one of the founding members of Progressive Artists’ Group in 1947. He received the French Government Scholarship in 1950 to study at Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is a recipient of Prix de la Critique, Paris, 1956; Rajkeeya Samman and Kalidas Samman by Government of Madhya Pradesh, 1978 & 1997; Officier de L’Ordre Des Arts et des Lettres by Government of France, 2002. He was conferred Padma Shri in 1981 and Padma Bhushan in 2007 by the Government of India. He was honoured with the Fellowship of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1983. In his long career, Raza has held several solo and group exhibitions in India and abroad which include Biennale de Venice, 1956; Biennale de Menton, 1964, 66, 68, 72 & 76; Biennale du Moroc, Rabat, 1963; Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, 1986; Biennial of Havana, 1987; Jane Woorhese Zimmerli Art Museum, New Jersey, 2002; ‘Swasti’, NGMA, New Delhi, 2007. Several publications have been released on his life and work which include ‘Bindu: Space and Time in Raza’s Vision’ by Geeti Sen, 1997; ‘Raza’ by Ashok Vajpeyi, 2002 and ‘A Life in Art: Raza’ written & edited by Ashok Vajpeyi, 2007. Raza lives and works in Paris and Gorbio, France